Aggressive Roaches

[Glass_]

Aggressive Roaches(SKIP TO 7TH POST)

The question in this post is answered already, please go to the 6th reply(not counting this one) and answer that question. I just wanted to recycle this thread instead of starting a new one.
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Hey, I think my B. Lateralis are overpowering my leopard geckos. First of all, they are freakin fast, and if they aren't in the food bowl the geckos will probably never catch them. Second, they frequently escape the food bowl. Third, they go into all of the little cracks where I can't find them. I put in 8 more roaches, only to find that 6 from yesterday were hiding under a piece of slate that I thought nothing could go into. Now, when there were roaches in the food bowl and Storm was coming to eat out of it, he stuck his head in and all of the roaches started swarming around him. That really got him stunned and he went back into his hide. I think these B. Lateralis are crazy. Anyone else having these problems?

EDIT: I think the roaches get p/o'd when I shake them for supplementation. Could this be the reason they're all grouchy? I mean, besides the fact that they're about to be eaten alive, but they don't to know that.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

Those roaches are just plain fast! As for crowding him when he sticks his head in the dish, they see that as a way to get out, so they storm his face (their ramp) and take off. I have noticed that my lateralis spazz out when i shake them too, but they aren't as flimsy as crickets & don't get stunned. Its just different characteristics.

Can I suggest only putting in one or two roaches at a time? this might make it easier for him to grab them.

I only feed my Fat Tail the lateralis because she is the only one that can catch them. My leos don't even bother with them.

 

[Glass_]

Hm... yeah that seems right lol. Once I find a way to get the ones in there out, find a way for them to be eaten, I'll start feeding them less at a time, seems like a good idea.

 

[5HiddenLizards]

Yeah, those things have quite a grip when they lodge themselves into stuff. I usually just blow air on them & they freak out & run everywhere. Then i catch them with tweezers, but they are crazy fast. If they have been in the tank for a while, i'll put them back in their bin to eat & gain nutrients again. Good Luck!
I have a crap load of babies that are taking forever to grow.

 

[Glass_]

I moved them to a bigger bowl, and it seemed like they were being eaten, but then a day later I was moving stuff around in the tank and I saw them hiding under a hide. I don't know when the last time the geckos got to eat is. I hate this.

 

[cryptid_hunter]

I've tried feeding those and found that they were just too fast as well, and they are too good at hiding in totally inaccesible places. I wanted to get my fat tails eating them a couple times per week but the AFT's are just too slow for the roaches. But the leos are much faster so I figured maybe they would work better as food for the leos but even with the increased speed of the leos the roaches are still just too fast.

So anyway, I just gave up on the roaches and I stick with crickets, superworms, waxies, silkworms, and small hornworms. And the occasional day-old pinkie for gravid/breeding females.

 

[Glass_]

Here is the question I need answering now. Thanks.

Update: I got the feeding problem sorted, I think there were just too many roaches in the bowl that it freaked them out. By eliminating the small spaces, and not using a bowl, it gave them no where to run.

But I have a new problem. The roaches look like they're eating the half log hide, and I heard that pine and cedar(prob. what the hide was made of) is bad for leopard geckos. If the roaches are eating the log, and the geckos are eating the roaches, then wouldn't the geckos be eating some coniferous stuff, and is it harmful?

 

[Dog Shrink]

What's usually harmful about those woods is the odor they put off. I know that with most critters the aroma alone can cause upper respratory distress, but I'm not sure that if eating a bug that ate the wood is going to cause troubles. Honestly I wouldn't use cedar in any enclosure.

 

[Glass_]

Yeah, I was thinking that too, because it's lethal for hermit crabs, but I searched it for leopard geckos and it seemed that a lot of people are using it, so I assumed it was okay.

 

[GeckoGathering]

Roaches are Cool, fast, fun, and funny.

B. Lateralis : I've tried feeding those and found that they were just too fast as well, and they are too good at hiding in totally inaccessible places.

Maybe the "Roach-a-Matic" or the "Roach Dining Room" method would work.
See Video Link.
Although the roaches staring in the video are dubias.
Redesign has removed tile floor, making it more "gecko accessible."
Take care. Hj
http://geckoforums.net/showthread.php?t=63932
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